Chapter 32: Departure
Fluttershy woke up with a start, a strong bout of turbulence jolting the golden mare back into consciousness. As soon as she realized what was going on and where she was, her mind became instantly alert, and she looked down at the cyan pegasus to make sure the mare still lay in her lap. Through the entire flight, Rainbow Dash continued her deep slumber. Fluttershy had tried to stay awake for the entire trip out of a sense of obligation to the mare in her forelegs, but after two days of flying back to the cave from the mesa, plus an entire night of riding Sarlaka to and from the mesa, her body had just decided to call it quits. A quick look around didn't tell her much about how long she had been asleep; the only clues given to her were that Sarlaka was still flying with them in their clutches and that the sun had apparently risen above the horizon.
For as peaceful as Rainbow looked right now, the yellow pegasus knew that she had to risk waking the mare to check how her patient was doing. Nudging the cyan mare slightly, Fluttershy frowned when Rainbow didn't stir in the slightest. Again, Fluttershy nudged the mare in her grip, but even still, she noted that there wasn't a groan, shift of weight, of even a change in breathing to signal that the wounded pony realized what was going on. In fact, if it wasn't for the fact that Fluttershy could feel the speedy heartbeat of the mare next to her, she would've assumed that Rainbow had...
No. She shook her head to clear her mind of the terrible thoughts that were starting to form. Rainbow Dash had promised that she would never leave her ever again, and if there was one thing that defined the pegasus more than anything else, it was that the mare was loyal to the bitter end. Sure, Applejack was the honest one, but sometimes one can break a promise simply because of inability, and Rainbow would never admit defeat. She would fight and fight and fight, until she had nothing left to give, and even then, she would still try her best to protect her friends.
A familiar lurching in her stomach took over, a much more subtle one this time around, and Fluttershy found the three of them slowly descending towards what must have been the dragon's mountain cave. Taking a small peek through the gaps between the dragon's claws, she was able to make out what must have been the landscape around Sarlaka's mountain, though through the narrow slits in his claws, it was hard to tell. Sure, she was able to see a smallish looking town down there that could have been Conflound, but it was impossible to tell from this height. Fluttershy knew from experience that at this height, everything but the most familiar of details tended to look the same, a lesson in navigation that she had been forced to learn in flight school. All she knew was that the dragon was descending in his version of a landing maneuver.
Either that, or he fell asleep in the middle of the flight, though that theory was not something she wanted to think about.
A deep and rumbling voice silenced that second suggestion, “Make sure Loyalty is secure Kindness. We're landing in thirty seconds.”
Like the last time they landed, Fluttershy nodded into Sarlaka's chest as if he could see her head motions. Not entirely sure how to 'secure' her most precious of cargo, the yellow mare decided to shift her body slightly, so that she now was snuggled up alongside the mare. With as much care as she could possibly give, she wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow's midsection, careful not to aggravate the mare's cracked ribs. Finally, as a final thought, she wrapped her right wing around her in a protective fashion, the left in too much pain to even try and move it much. Fluttershy would've given anything for Rainbow to hug her back with strength and vigor, but such fantasies would not be granted.
Just as Sarlaka had told her, only half a minute after his initial warning and she felt him touch down onto the snowy ledge outside of his home. His landing was much smoother than his landing at the mesa the night before, though whether the reason was because of Rainbow’s injuries or because of the much more familiar landscape Fluttershy wasn't sure. Immediately after touching down, Sarlaka began to rush into the cavern before the three of them, his steps quick, but surprisingly graceful. The entire time, Fluttershy closely gripped the mare in her forelegs, protecting the cyan pegasus so dear to her from whatever she could, as if holding her could actually protect her from anything at this point.
The light from the outside world dimmed as they continued on, and eventually, she felt them make the familiar right curve that opened up to the cavern inside. The yellow pegasus felt the scaled arm wrapped around both her and Rainbow loosen its grip, and together they were placed in the center of the foyer. The chandeliers above cast a gloomy glow onto the trio as Sarlaka slowly stepped away, leaving Fluttershy alone to hold her broken friend against her body.
A weak yet racing heartbeat felt against her belly, Fluttershy again slowly nudged her friend, “Rainbow Dash... we made it... you can wake up now...”
It was then that the rest of her friends, the ones that she had completely ignored the day before when she first returned, made their appearance. A voice that undoubtedly belonged to Twilight echoed throughout the room, “You're back! How are Fluttershy and Rainb... oh...”
Stunned to silence, her four friends behind her just watched as she cradled Rainbow Dash's broken body against her own. Nothing in the entire world mattered anymore except for the mare in her forelegs, her hooves running through the the blood stained prismatic mane that her friend possessed. Discord didn't matter. The elements didn't matter. Her friends didn't matter. Even her own life didn't matter. All that mattered was the mare of her dreams in front of her.
Fluttershy tried to think of something to say, anything to mention to her friends, whether it was reassurances that Rainbow would be alright or for them help her with anything. Every time though, the words would get caught in her throat, and she found herself swallowed in the stifling silence that had wrapped itself around them all. Besides, deep down, the golden pegasus knew that there was nothing that anypony could do to change anything.
“Fluttershy,” she heard Applejack say as she took a timid step forward, “Wha' do we do? Ah don' mean to put the pressure on ya, bu' you're the best with all of tha' doctor stuff...”
The yellow mare didn't respond, merely continuing to support her unconscious mare in her forelegs. A few seconds later, she heard her lavender friend speak, her friend's voice elevated with panic, “Fluttershy, please. We don't know what to do. What can we do to help her?”
Choking back a sob, the pegasus shook her head, “N... Nothing. There... there's nothing we can do...”
The silence that was merely suffocating before was now more painful than ever. Fluttershy fought the tears and emotions that threatened to take over at her simple explanation, and she could just feel her friends' horrified looks cast on her with the new information. It was true though, the bruising of her lower body, the racing heart rate, along with the chilled skin all pointed towards Rainbow sustaining massive internal blood loss. Of course, even if that wasn't the case, there was no chance that at least a few of her internal organs had not sustained damage; this damage was easily enough to result in a much more slow and painful death.
Sarlaka's determined voice boomed behind her, “Like Tartarus. There's always something we can do,” and without saying anything more, he was heard moving away to the back of the room. Shortly after, the sounds of three sets of hooves galloping away entered her ears as well, a single lone friend left to hold watch over the pair. Even if it was one of her best friends, it was as if a voyeur was peeking into Fluttershy's and Rainbow's most intimate of moments, an unwelcome set of eyes and ears to observe their every move.
A door opened to another room with a loud bang, and even across the large foyer, Fluttershy could hear her companions as clear as a bell, “Wait! There's that phoenix feather that you gave her! Phoenix feathers have always been used for their healing properties in Equestria!”
“I am aware that they were Magic, but it won't help.”
Suddenly, the mare in Fluttershy's grasp started to stir, a hushed gasp escaping Fluttershy's muzzle as a pair of clouded-over eyes looked into her own. Even in the terrible state that Rainbow was in, a small and pained smile formed on her face, “Hey Fluttershy... what's up...”
Fluttershy forced a smile, “Not much Rainbow... we... we made it back...”
“Why won't it help us!? The healing of those feathers is legendary!”
“Because that feather a fake Magic; a placebo. The last phoenix left this world seven hundred fifty years ago. I made the whole thing up to help Kindness keep up with Loyalty if needed. That thing Kindness holds is nothing but a few bits of plastic I melted together.”
Rainbow chuckled, “Heh... they're being loud, aren't they?” The broken mare winced in pain for a few seconds, before opening her eyes again, “Hey 'Shy... I... don't feel my hind legs... why can't... why can't I feel my legs? And it so cold in here... and...”
“Shh...” Fluttershy put a single forehoof on Rainbow's lips to silence the mare. “Please Dash, conserve your strength... you'll... you'll need it...”
“A what!? Then... then what do we do!?”
“... Generosity. I need you to get some bat guano, a pair of frog legs, and the purest and largest amethyst you can find in my hoard. Go for purity over size. Honesty, I need you to find me some goat milk and brown sugar. Magic, find a large bowl. I will need you to mix everything together.”
“Hey... Fluttershy...”
The yellow pegasus' attention was brought back to the mare in front of her, “Yes, Rainbow Dash...”
Rainbow reached up, and gripped the yellow foreleg that was helping hold her cyan head up with her own foreleg, “I figured out what... what our first date would be...”
Tears welling up in her eyes, Fluttershy forced a sad smile, “H... have you? That's... wonderful...”
“Heh... promise... promise not to laugh?”
“Of course I won't laugh Rainbow Dash...”
“Where's the bat guano!?”
“Next to the eye of the newt.”
A massive and genuine smile erupted from Rainbow's face as she thought about her plans, “Alright, this is going to sound really, really silly, but I’m going to invite you to my place, and, I know this sounds crazy, but I’m going to cook something up for you. Yeah, it'll be something really simple, like spaghetti or tacos, and we'll probably end up ordering pizza because what I make will be terrible, but I’m going to at least try. I think I have a cookbook somewhere in my house... maybe...”
Rainbow closed her eye as she continued, her face still beaming, “Then, once we're done, I'm going to take you someplace quiet; someplace where we could be all by ourselves. My first idea was some grassy hill or something like that, but that sounds really lame and way too cliché for us. Instead, I’m going to take you high up onto the highest cloud I can find the sky, far away from Ponyville, and just lay there with just you and me there. We could just talk and stuff, nothing crazy like I normally tried to do on all of my failures of dates before. Finally, with Ponyville and the Everfree Forest in the distance, we'll watch the sunset. Its really not something I would do normally, I usually would try to do something fun or exciting like race or wrestling or something 'cool', but for you, I’m going to do all of that, and more, because... well... you deserve it...”
Fluttershy's battle against the onslaught of emotions inside of her finally was lost, and she had to fight just to speak, “That... sounds absolutely amazing Rainbow Dash. I’m sure that I’m going to have an... have an absolutely wonderful time...”
Rainbow's smile never went away, but a light, yet sad, chuckle escaped her mouth, “Sorry I won't be able to take you on it...”
The yellow mare continued to cry, unable to even imagine trying to respond to that comment. How could she? Tell her longest and closest friend, more than a friend now, that she was right, and that she didn't have much time left? Fluttershy wouldn't even be able to make it through the first three words of that sentence. Sure, she wasn't Applejack, but the idea of lying to her mare instead was out of the question as well, especially since even Rainbow knew for certain what her fate was. The only thing the yellow pegasus could manage was to dip her head slightly lower, and rest it on Rainbow's in a tight embrace.
“Alrigh'! Tha's everythin'! Twi, get to stirrin'!”
“Wait! We still need the amethyst! Rarity, where is it?”
“Sarlaka needed to grind it up into a powder. There! Here it is!”
“Alright. Everypony stand back. This could get messy!”
A groan emanated from Rainbow's throat. It was a groan of exhaustion and discomfort, “Hey... Fluttershy...”
She did her best to swallow her sorrow for a moment, “Y... yes Dash?”
“They're... they're being really loud in there,” Rainbow cracked open her eyes, a sad smile painted on her face, “Could... could you sing me something? Something... something soft and slow, cause I'm... I’m... feeling... really tired all... all the sudden...”
“Is that it? Is there anything else it needs?!”
“... Yes. One final thing. Heh, I've been killing ponies for over a thousand years now. Fitting that the first one I save is more painful than any of those murders.”
Fluttershy, letting out a single sob, quickly nodded to the mare in her forelegs. She watched as Rainbow slowly relaxed her body, let her eyelids slowly close, and rested her head in Fluttershy's lap. For whatever reason, while admitting Rainbow's fate to the mare was impossible, the sobs in her throat too quickly stifling any words she could try to express it in, singing to her was something else entirely. It was as if the yellow mare was merely singing her to sleep... and nothing more. Fluttershy allowed her own eyes to close, and with the most angelic of voices, she began to sing.
“Hush now... quiet now... it's time to lay your sleepy head...”
“What do you mean by tha-”
“ARGH!!!!”
“...said hush now... quiet now... it's time to go to bed.”
“SWEET CELESTIA WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!”
“Heh... I... told you that a dragon's eye had healing properties before... well I’m giving Loyalty that gift that I didn't give her before you all initially left.”
“But you said that it was a myth!”
“Every myth... has got to have a shred of truth in it... right?”
“Driftin', off to sleep... the exciting day behind you.”
“... Twi... wha' are we doin'?”
“... Just... just put it in. Hurry!”
“Driftin', off to sleep... let the joy of dream land find you...”
“There! Come on everypony. Lets get this to Rainbow Dash!”
“Right. Sarlaka, darling, are you coming?”
“Give me a second Generosity. Its... not everyday I carve out one of my own eyes...”
“Hush now... quiet now... lay your sleepy head...
Suddenly, Fluttershy felt very much crowded, the sole pony witnessing the entire scene before, now joined by the rest of her friends. A giant mixing bowl, levitated by her lavender friend, was pressed up close to Rainbow's face. A magical aura encompassed the entirety of Rainbow's body, and while Twilight tipped the bowl's contents into the mare's throat, she magically worked the muscles to force the cyan mare to swallow as much of the liquid as she thought Rainbow as able. Several seconds of the force feeding ensued, until most of the liquid had disappeared down the mare's throat. Warily, Twilight took a step back, and watched.
Fluttershy, for her part, never moved away. She simply waited until her friends had backed off enough so that she could continue her singing to her most loyal of friends.
“said hush now... quiet now...”
The yellow mare slumped down, completely defeated as she felt Rainbow’s breathing slow to a stop. In her final moments, Rainbow Dash's heart raced as it did its very best to do its essential job, keeping the mare alive for a scant few more seconds as it sent increasingly useless blood through the cyan mare's body. Finally, the stresses put on the powerful organ were too much, and the mare's heart ceased to perform its most important of duties. Fluttershy began petting Rainbow's chromatic mane, as if the mare in her forelegs was just a little filly going to sleep, as the most wonderful mare's soul departed her body.
Never breaking above a whisper, Fluttershy spoke, “It's time to go to bed.”
A/N: I'm giving you this chapter early, because the last one was so short. Enjoy!!
Editor's Note: And now you all have depression!!
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You editors note didn't help....
But did they make it in time I wonder
cause I don't want Fluttershy to go made with the loss... Plus a dragons eye? Wow... poor Spike that would hurt, ripping his own eye out.
No.
That will be all.
No....no....no....
No....
At least her nightmare is over....
Poor Fluttershy... Poor everypony...
Nooooo! I don't want Rainbow to die! :(
If she died... and stays dead...
I. Will. KILL. You.
Hey, if Obito Uchiha could survive having half his body crushed by a boulder, this should be a breeze!
RAINBOW JUMP NOW!
I will state and forever stand by my belief that Never Gonna Give You Up would have been a much more appropriate song to sing.
And I don't think they need to worry about finding a phoenix. They just need to remain loyal to
DumblCelestia, even in their darkest hour. I give Philomena a good 50/50 chance of not being turned into a rubber duck the moment she tries to do anything useful.Although I guess RD has plot armor because Discord still needs to die
/momentkiller
1269891 Aw, don't cry! Well... ok, you are allowed to cry, but whatever! I'm glad that you loved their interactions, and I hope that... well... you continue to like the other pony's interactions with each other!
1270052 Yes, and there's nothing you can do to change that answer!
1270354 Yeah... but lets face it, there was no other way this subplot was ending. Getting trapped under a cave-in for 2 days? Yeah... she's biting the dust. Oh well, at least Fluttershy's back on the market again! Am I right!?
1270673 I like playing Grim Reaper way too much to change it now. Sorry.
1271527 Hmm... have I ever told you that my name is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? I live in Iran... come at me bro!
1271727 Never heard of that name... *looks up the name, and realizes it Naruto; a show I HATE* ... now I have more than enough reasons to kill her off now.
1272598 Because she died because of a cave in crushing her, I still think this song is much more appropriate.
1272628 If she dies, then a new bearer of the Element of Loyalty will be born. Therefore, the mane 6 (minus 1) would still be able to Voltron it up with that new filly. Granted it would take a few years, but you get the picture.
1272840 oh wat? If Fluttershy looses her Dashie then I rather think that she would be kinda stuffed and not be very useful to anypony else... (not to mention the elements are not pointless). I guess my pic of RD crying is kinda in tone with this...
Oh well... I'll keep reading and hope.
1272840 XD That is by far the least comforting thought EVER. I don't think that's going to occur to Fluttershy at all. XD So, no. You're wrong.
I love this story, and yet now I want to punch it.
I need to go work on some happier stories now...
I'm sad to see Rainbow Dash go
but now I'm really excited for the next chapter, considering now they can't use the elements without another Loyalty pony. I am definitely tracking this, good sir! 
Spike cut his own freakin eye out! Rainbow you cant die!
1272865 Hey, that's what I do in this story. I'm making it my mission to make sure that every single pony cries at some point. I got Fluttershy hard on this chapter, Rarity a few times, Twilight when Rarity got wasted, and Pinkie Pie when she was... manhandled. I don't think I ever got Rainbow though, and I think Applejack only started to tear up, not cry, when she saw Pinkie after Xavier took her away. So all I have left is Sarlaka (I think), Discord, statue Celestia, Clyde, Martha, Captain Jonathan, Lieutenant , Quill, and random Zebra bartender. I got this!
1273023 Here's the deal. I'm going to have this story printed into book form, and then I'll mail it to you. That way, you can punch it right in the kisser. That said, I would advise against reading any of my other stories then... neither are exceptionally happy
1273099 Well I am glad you are indeed tracking this! And by the way, I didn't say it before, but you have the most... interesting name out there
1273146 Heh, I was about to submit this whole thing when you commented, so you just got in under the wire. That said, I totally can, and did kill that technicolor pony, and there's nothing you can do about it!
1273158 X'D LOL! Oh, that would be cool. A friend of mine had a fan sent "Past Sins" in book form, that was pretty neat. But yeah, okay! I'll punch it and then start yelling at it in tears! Anyway though, you don't have to do that. XD I'll endure this to the end because, well, it'd be silly if I backed out now.
Now I'm going to go write one to make myself feel better. XD Excuse me.
Hey, I don't mind sad stories. One story I'm reading right now has killed off Fluttershy and I still love and am reading it. XD
1273182
Yeah... well... I killed off the entire cast of the show, minus 5 of the mane six, Spike, and Discord! So my killcount is higher! HA!
1273195 XD Really? Well, unless you're going to have an "everybody dies" ending...
1273182 Be sure to post it once its done
1273334
I don't think I will! But I'll share it with friends, and you too. 
1272840
Well, I don't particularly like Naruto either, reading it out of habit, but it's the obvious parallel to what we have in here.
And no, you're not going to kill Rainbow Dash, but it's a commendable effort. If you end up killing her, well, let's hope you can get yourself out of if decently
1272840 Yeah they could pick up the new filly after a few years, that is assuming Discord doesn't get tired of waiting and just pops up and kills them, then actually finding the filly and also befriending him/her enough so that they can use the elements... with things as they stand right now that is unlikely at best and downright impossible at worst unless you plan this story to be Fallout Equestria-long, or have a "bad ending" of course.
TL,DR: Until Rainbow Dash is literally 6 feet under, I won't count her as dead.
1273203>>1273334 Stop hijacking my story!
1274175>>1274719 Just watch: I wasn't actually planning on killing her off, but because of you two almost DARING me to, I end up killing her off
1274796 XD I'm not hijacking anything, I assure you. Can't a fangirl have her own secret reality in which things went differently?
1274814 No
1280404 Okay.
Want to make this even more heartbreaking? Play this while you read:
Gah, okay, I cried, I'll admit it. Although I'm holding out hope that Rainbow somehow comes back, this chapter was damn emotional. As soon as Fluttershy started singing... Nice job, really.
Congratulations ugugg93, this is the very first fanfic thats made me cry
So I am reading this and that final scene comes up just as Lullaby By One republic starts on my music player. Heedless of the lyrics the soft tones of the song and everything just that friggin hurt, haven't cried at a fic in quite sometime but that combo just dang. Good on you sir for such wonderful writing, and good on my music for choosing the perfect moment for a soft song
I have a sad. But that's a good thing, of course.
I also would like to point out that this would have been more effective if you had used meaningful friendshipping instead of cheezy romance. Just sayin'
NOOOO RAINBOW!!
And Laughter, get the Full Restores! It's right next to the Super Repels.
No... no... she can't be gone, it can't be too late... it can't be!